Interesting little film

[David Stepney]

Many years ago, I owned a Trojan. Often described as slow, noisy and smelly, it was all of these but like Sevens, had a charm of its own. I still have a factory workshop manual for one on the bookshelf. It was a very interesting and curious car. A split twin two stroke engine married to a two speed and reverse epicyclic gearbox, it had surprising torque. Final drive was by chain to the offside rear wheel. About 40 mph top speed, so was not all that much slower than many light cars of the twenties. The braking system was interesting. The footbrake worked on an enormous drum on the near side rear wheel (the offside rear wheel being the driving wheel). The handbrake worked on a pulley on the transmission cross shaft. I didn’t keep it that long as it was so temperamental to start. The starter was a lever in the cab that engaged with the crankshaft via a four legged dog. One could pull and pull on the lever with nothing more than the occasional pop and sigh. It always went with a push, though.

If I had the money, I’d have another just for the fun of it.